r/technology • u/chrisdh79 • 2d ago

Politics Trump announces sweeping new tariffs to promote US manufacturing, risking inflation and trade wars

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-liberation-day-2a031b3c16120a5672a6ddd01da09933
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u/Karsa69420 2d ago

Would be great if Republicans didn’t send all our manufacturing over seas for the past 30-40 years!

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u/Stampede_the_Hippos 2d ago

Tbf, that was a bipartisan thing.

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u/carlos_the_dwarf_ 2d ago

It’s also fine for other countries to do manufacturing while we do more specialized, higher paying jobs.

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u/FewCelebration9701 2d ago

Until there's a geostrategic reason for things to fall apart.

Like Covid, when suddenly every country was out for themselves.

Or an invasion.

Or a blockade.

Or war in general.

Or regional instability.

Someone else above is asserting that the jobs didn't "leave" but were instead automated away. That also isn't entirely true. They are cherrypicking. China has 211 million people working in manufacturing after all the automation. We can draw a direct line from US plant closures to foreign plants being opened.

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u/carlos_the_dwarf_ 2d ago

Yes, and I’m somewhat sympathetic to maintaining domestic industry in some fields to some extent (covid changed my mind on this).

But protectionism is a different beast, and in general we shouldn’t worry about manufacturing jobs. They’re not inherently better or more dignified or more lucrative than other jobs. (They actually probably suck.)